AUTO Biography
by D. L. Sauron- AlmightyLOTRnerd
Summary: AU- Auto escapes death after failing his directive, and in doing so, gets a second chance at life when he becomes stranded on an alien planet and learns of the growing conflict between good and evil that will affect everyone on the planet. Including Auto.
1. My Awakening

**I do not own the film Wall-E**

**This story is for my friend Total Anime Fangirl**

**AUTO-biography, being the story of an autopilot who escaped death after failing his directive and in doing so, got a second chance at life.**

**1 My Awakening**

Voices. That was the first thing I heard. Of course, after being shut down and plunged into darkness for who-knew-how-long, it was difficult to figure out that was what I was hearing. I could not make out the words, but I could tell there were several people around. I thought one of them sounded like Captain McCrea, but I could not be sure. I could not even see in this state. I would guess I was what humans call "delirious" at the time. Dimly, I felt that I was connected to a computer. I would learn later that I had been receiving a diagnostic test. At the moment, however, my ear spokes began to pick up on bits of the conversation.

"…really don't think we should be doin' this, man."

"What, you scared? It's a freakin' steering wheel for Forthright's sake. It's not gonna jump out and eat you for breakfast. Sheesh." It was a pair of teenagers, and they were probably up to no good. Suddenly, the two boys were joined by a female sounding voice that had just the slightest mechanical ring to it.

"Honestly, you two are such big wimps. I don't see why I even brought you. I could very easily have tested it and set up this prank myself."

"Aw, shut up, Kiva." the second boy said, "We ain't afraid. This is gonna be the greatest prank EVER!"

"Yeah, if we don't get tazed." the first boy remarked.

"Oh, relax. We don't even need the whole thing. Thanks to Kiva, we know the dumb thing works. Now we just take what we need and scram!"

"Right. So, do these things come off easy?" They had reached me and from the sound of their voices, they were right in front of me. I felt the computer disconnect with a start

"I dunno. Try it and see."

Suddenly, something wrapped around one of my ear spokes and yanked hard on it. my emergency programming kicked in and sent me into panic mode. I jolted up off my charging dock and started spinning my wheel around as fast as I could. I also tried to grab the assailant with my claw, but since I was blind, I couldn't find him. Frantically, I started racing around the bridge like a madman, the boy holding on to my wheel for dear life, screaming the whole time.

"DUDE, LET GO! LET! GO!" his friend called. I decided to add to the effect and spoke to the human in thought speech

_Yes, let go__, _I said. _You cannot__ hold__ on__ much__ longer__._

It worked. I heard the boy gasp as I felt him turn loose of my spoke.

"D-d-d-did you g-g-guys just hear th-that?" he stuttered.

"Hear what?" the girl asked.

"The voice. The one that said to let go."

"That was me, you dumbwad." the second boy remarked.

"No it wasn't, it was like…in my head." the first boy said.

"Um, hello! There's still a crazed steering wheel spazzing out here guys." the girl called.

"Well, what do you want us to do about it?" This was both boys. I decided to address all of them now.

_Leave, _I told them. _Leave this__ place__ and__ never__ return__._

This time I heard three gasps.

"That...was definitely not me." The second boy stated.

"That was kinda scary." The girl agreed.

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" yelled the first boy. I could hear the receding footsteps as they ran off. For a moment, I smiled inside. But then, without the gullible teenagers there to frighten, I quickly got bored. And that was when I decided to turn on the bridge's computer

**Oh, yes I did, yes I did end it there. Please R&R! I really want to know what you think of this so far. Chapter Two should be up soon. Also, I heard a rumor that there was going to be a sequel to Wall-E. Do you want this to happen? **


	2. Dusty

**I still do not own Wall-E, so on we go. What did Auto do when he got bored? Hmm.**

**2. Dusty**

For all the dumb things they have done, I will say this. The human who created what they call the "Internet" is a genius. This is the perfect form of entertainment for someone who is confined to one room at all times. And it was on the Internet that my existence changed and truly became a life.

The site was called the "AxiomFFarchive" I believe it is a library of digital files that people read instead of books. That is what I did anyway. For several days I did this. Then I finally got the nerve to create my own user account.

I used a fake name, since I had heard that I was the most hated thing in existence, more so than any other robot or human. I flicked through all of the Axiom's files to make sure I did not use a name that belonged to someone else. Eventually, I settled on one that sounded very different from anything I had ever heard. I decided to call myself "Meldir Saeran".

I posted feedback "reviews" on several of the files and even added some to a "Favorites" section of my account. Then I began getting responses to my reviews. Most of them were somewhere along the lines of "Thank you very much." I got into a bad habit of not reading these. But then, one day, one of these messages caught my eye. It said something about imagining me in "anime", whatever that was. I typed a response, which read

AUTO: What is anime?

It turned out anime was a type of art enjoyed by humans. But that did not grab my attention as much as when she addressed me as Auto, not Meldir.

The girl, who was named Dusty, told me that she was a very big "fan" of me

Long boring story short, Dusty and I became very good friends very fast. Little did I know, Dusty would teach me some of the most important things I would ever learn.

**Yes, yes, I know, it is short. Not much is happening right now. Trust me though. The chapters WILL get longer as more stuff happens. Please R&R, and tell me what the sequel to Wall-E should be about.**


	3. The Change

**The third chapter of my story.**

**I own not the film, nor do I own anyone in it. Dusty is based on a real person.**

**3. The Change**

_i had never thought much about my existence. I was a steering wheel. That was that. Or so I thought…_

It began when Dusty started telling me about her imagining me as a human. I myself had never thought about, although I knew it was completely possible. I even told her that I was not a human

**Just ****so ****you ****know,**I typed, **I ****am ****in ****robot ****form. ****I ****have ****not ****yet ****gained ****the ****ability ****to ****assume ****a ****human ****or ****even ****humanoid ****form.**

**oh.**she responded, **well ****no ****matter ****what ****ur ****still ****awesome ****like ****i ****said ****before****^^. ****what ****would ****it ****take ****for ****you ****to ****gain ****that ****ability?**

I then proceeded to tell her about the two ways, avatar or morph.

**It ****would ****take ****either ****of ****two ****things. **I explained. **The ****first ****would ****be ****someone ****developing ****a ****technology ****that ****would ****allow ****me ****to ****trade ****human ****DNA ****for ****my ****own ****and ****then ****be ****able ****to ****switch ****back. ****This ****is ****called ****morphing. ****The ****other ****option ****is ****to ****create ****an ****avatar ****body ****that ****I ****control ****with ****my ****mind. ****At ****some ****point, ****they ****could ****transfer ****everything ****that ****I ****am ****into ****that ****body. ****My ****steering ****wheel ****body ****would ****then ****"die" ****as ****there ****is ****no ****life ****force ****with in ****it. ****This ****option ****was ****introduced ****by ****James ****Cameron ****in ****the ****film ****Avatar.**

Unfortunately, Dusty was unable to do anything more than offer her encouragement for either option. I was on my own. I thought about my past and the life I had been living. Was this really what I wanted? To be left alone and forgotten on the bridge of the Axiom? Left to die alone of old age? No. of course I didn't want that. But I had come to accept that as my reality, my sealed fate. That is, until Dusty made me think of those options. Even after I finished talking with her for the day, I continued to think about it. Until I realized what had happened.

Dusty had shown me a way out.

It was early morning when the computer told me it was complete. I followed my track down to the secret bio-lab on the ship and went over to the large tank of blue chemical fluid that held my creation. I glided over and looked down into the tank

Inside, a young man floated in stasis. He was only about twenty years old, with long black hair that floated freely around him. His eyes were closed, but I knew they would be a deep crystalline blue. He had a broad, flat nose that made me think "cat" But his face was handsome, no, flawless, as was the rest of his lean muscular body. In short, he was…beautiful.

And _he_ would soon be _me._

The next day, I awoke early and went down to the lab to begin the decanting process, the process of separating the body from the chemical it had grown in. I made sure to attach all the monitors to it before removing it, so that if one of its vitals suddenly became irregular, I would be able to tell. Then I slowly drained the tank, letting the body settle to the bottom. Gently I lifted it out of the tank and laid it on a wheeled table, much like the wheeled beds used to transport patients in hospitals. Then I set the computer to begin running the necessary basic tests on the avatar once I linked.

I then went into the next room, which held only some old lab equipment, a few dim lights, and my makeshift link station. I set the connectors up and waited until I saw the avatar's 3D brain scan image, with the transparent hologram of his head surrounding it. When I connected the first of my wires to the link station, a holographic steering wheel appeared next to it. I checked all the settings on the computers before connecting the last of my wires. Then I took a deep robotic "breath" and pressed the **INITIATE ****LINK **button on the console. And I waited.

My vision was blurry at first, but then it adjusted. I ran the tests and finally looked into a mirror.

I was met, for the first time, by a PAIR of eyes. Not a single, cold and lifeless one, and not a red one either. Staring back at me were the deepest blue eyes I had ever seen. They were soft, warm, kind…and they were _mine._

I spent the entire day linked with the avatar, and decided I was going to go all the way with this new "directive" of mine. Directive A114, I had called it. Its order was to transform the autopilot into something else, and that is exactly what I did. That night, I made the final computer preparations that would make this possible. I was going to transfer everything that I was, mind, spirit, heart, soul, everything into this body. I laid the avatar back on the table and connected myself to the computer. I took a deep "breath" and selected the **Transfer **option. Everything went black for a moment as I felt my whole self, my entire being pulled out of one body and placed in another.

When I regained my senses, I was in my new body. I turned to my left and saw a large, robotic black and white steering wheel, its glass optic completely dark. There was no life force left within it. It was dead. I got up slowly, then walked my old wheel form along its track all the way back to the bridge. I then latched it into the steering wheel hook-up on the control console. I stood back and took one last look at it. Then I laid down with a pile of towels from the Lido deck. The floor on the bridge was cold and hard, but despite that, I laid there, and for the first time in my life, I slept. I actually slept.

**See? I told you the chapters would become longer. I apologize for being so late in updating this. Hopefully, this longer chapter will make up for that. Please Read AND Review.**

**-Auto.**


	4. Leaving Earth

**I have decided, after quite a while, to continue this, as the idea of making it a crossover has led me to some interesting plot ideas. This chapter will introduce said crossover.**

**I do not own Wall-E or the fandom I am crossing it with here, which is Lord of the Rings.**

**4. Leaving Earth  
**

I lived on the bridge of the _Axiom_ for a little less than a week before my newfound need for food drove me out in search of it. I kept the name Meldir Saeran, thinking this would be safer than using my actual name. I would need this safety when I found a human. I was so busy looking around, i didn't see the robot until I ran straight into it.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" a synthesized female voice yelled. When I saw who the speaker was, I nearly fainted.

It was Eve.

"I...I-I am very sorry. I-I did not see you there." I said as nicely as I could. She waved it off, more interested in sizing me up. I guess I did look quite different from humans she had seen, given that I was lean and muscular when the other humans were overweight blobs. That, and the fact that instead of a red jumpsuit, all I wore was one of those old towels tied around my waist. And most of the men didn't have my long hair.

"You're not from here, are you?" Eve inquired.

"What makes you say that?" I asked innocently.

"You're too skinny to be one of our humans. And they're dressed in human clothes , while you're wearing an I-don't-know-what. You don't even _look _like them. What's your name, anyway?"

"I am Meldir Saeran."

"That's an odd name. You'll call me Eve." She had an air of authority about her, "What are you here for, Meldir?"

"I-I'm looking for something to eat."

"Then you're headed the wrong way. You'll want to go to the humans. They're in the other direction. Come on, I'll show you."

"Thank you." I said, secretly thanking whatever higher powers there were that she hadn't even been suspicious of my identity. This was a stroke of luck, and I needed to get everything out of it that I could before my luck ran out. I followed Eve back the way I had come. She was silent at first. Then a thought seemed to strike her.

"Say, Meldir, how would you like to get off this trash ball for a time?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, if you're interested, that is, the captain is starting a project to spread out the human race. Instead of having all the starliners come back here, we're going to tell some to settle on other life-supporting planets. But someone has to go there first to make sure there's room for them and make sure the natives, if there are any, aren't ostile. I thought I'd ask if you were interested. It's a pretty easy job. Anyone could do it."

Now, this took some thinking for me. Part of me never wanted to venture into space again after the things that happened on board the Axiom. But the other, more adventurous part of me saw it as an opportunity to get away, like I had done when I switched bodies. It was a way to escape not only Eve's wrath once she figured out who I really was, but also the hate and ridicule I would be subjected to once everyone else found out. It was my chance at a new, better life. A _real _life. When I had this thought, the adventurous part of me won over the resistant part.

"Sure. I would love to."

"Great! We'll head over to his place and get you signed up, then."

Eve led me to the largest of the structures the humans had built out of the escape pods. She told me to wait outside while she told whoever was inside that we were here. A few minutes later, she came back and said, "He's ready for you." I nodded and stepped inside.

Captain Barbaro McCrea hadn't changed much, if at all, since I last saw him. He was still basically a huge blob, although I could see where he was beginning to develope new muscle from working on building the colony. Based on looking at him, it was hard to believe I had lost a one-on-one fight with him, seeing as he hadn't had any muscle then and I had possesed superhuman strength and speed. I had no grudge against him for deactivating me. Actaully, I thanked him for it. If he hadn't shut me down, I wouldn't be where I was now. There wouldn't be a colony of free humans on Earth. It was ironic to think that all of this was able to happen because of my "death"

"Well hello, Mr. Saeran. Eve tells me you're interested in my job offer."

"Yes, sir," I replied. McCrea nodded toward a crate in front of the larger crate that served as his desk. An indication that he wanted me to sit. Thankfully, I had done this during my days on the Axiom, so I was well practice. The better to stave off suspicion.

"So, where are you from, Meldir?"

"The South." I answered quickly, "We landed a little over a week before the Axiom, but BnL was waiting for us. They blew the ship right off the landing pad and gassed the colony. I barely made it out alive." I wasn't used to making up stories, but I knew the nature of BnL, and the things I said were true enough. BnL forces were known for their ruthlessness, and such actions had earned them this reputation.

The captain interviewed me some more about my past, and I made up more, though I didn't like doing it. The mental image of Eve's plasma cannon in my face kept my thoughts straight, a reminder of what would happen if I told the truth.

Before I left, the captain ran me through a full body scanner, no doubt checking me for any foreign diseases I might have brought with me. He went into a back room of his office and came back out a moment later with a large bundle of cloth in his hand. He helped me into a long black sleeveless robe with silver trim around the arm holes and V-neck, around the waist, and down the center in front. A silver 8-point star shone on the left side over my chest, its tail point longer than any of the others. The fabric was smoother and softer than anything I had ever felt before.

"Now, then. We'd better find you something to eat, Mr. Saeran, seeing as that's what you came here for in the first place."

"That would be much appreciated." I said, and followed him out into the colony.

Since the humans hadn't been on Earth long enough for any of their crops to grow, they still got their food from the Axiom. Which meant I was treated to a meal in a cup. It tasted awful, and Ididn't understand how the humans ate/drank it, until I remembered they had eaten like this since they were born. It was all they knew.

I was told to report to the captain's office early the next morning. When I arrived, Eve was already there, along with Captain McCrea.

"Good morning to you, Meldir." McCrea said.

"Morning to you, sir." I answered groggily. Apparently, I was not a morning person.

"If it makes you feel better, you'll have plenty of time to sleep on your ship before you arrive at your designated planet."

"What IS my designated planet?" I asked.

"You'll be going to Ea. That's 'ay-uh', not 'ee-uh'. It's very similar to Earth, minus the trash and stuff. Here, here's all the information we have on it." He handed me a holopad with a document already pulled up on it. "Read that, and you'll know everything we do about Ea. Now, let's get you to your ship and on your way to Ea." We climbed onto a MOV-R unit, which carried us off across the barren plain beside the _Axiom_'s landing pad.

We arrived at a small one-man scout ship. The craft had been built to carry humans to and from Earth on the reconnaissance missions to search for plants. But then the EVE probes had been introduced, and the craft had never even lauched on an actual mission. So this one was still technically brand new. I saw that it even had a hyperdrive engine, which meant I would arrive on Ea in a matter of days or weeks instead of years.

"This'll be your ship, Meldir." McCrea said, "It'a yours for all your assignments. It's got everything you'll need already on board. And the regenerative food system on here makes actual food, not the crap-in-a-cup we had on the 's an endless supply, so pig out all you want. It gives youwhatever you want to drink, too. The ship is steered by an onboard autopilot-" I hoped neither of them saw me flinch at that word, "-system, which already has your coordinates programmed into it. When we need to, we can send you new ones via the ship's communications system. All you have to do is use your holopad to make observations about what you find-pictures, drawings, descriptions, artifacts, et cetera-and it will be saved to the ship's computer and sent back here. Now, let me just give the thing a last minute check over and then we'll get you on your way." He then walked off toward the ship.

"What's wrong with you, Meldir?" Eve asked when he was out of earshot.

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong with me?"

"You kinda flinched when the captain started talking about the autopilot system. What was that about?"

"Oh. I, um...have...bad memories of the, uh, autopilot on our ship." I made myself shudder a bit. "Mean thing, he was. Gave me nightmares just to think about him."

"Yeah, we had one like that." Eve said, "I mean, he was good at first, but when we found a plant, he went nuts and staged a mutiny. The captain had to shut him off."

"Wow." I did my best to sound surprised. "So where is he now?"

"We just left him on the bridge. Much as I wanted to, the captain wouldn't let me rip him apart for using his tazer on the one I love." She sighed, "And to think I almost told Auto I loved him before I left for Earth."

That stopped me in my tracks. Literally. But before I could say anything, Captain McCrea led me over to my ship, watched me go inside, and activated the autopilot system. All I could do was stare out the window in disbelief at Eve as my ship fired its liftoff thrusters, switched to its main engines, and shot toward outer space.

I was in outer space for a little over two days, at the edge of the Oort Cloud, when my hyperdrive engine kicked in. I watched as the fabric of space and time bent around the ship (_Opportunity _was its name). Starlight stretched until it became endless lines outside my windows. I couldn't duistinguish a nearby star from a distant galaxy. All around me were straight, endless lines of all different colors. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. Sure, I had seen it before on the _Axiom, _but this was different. I coud see the colors clearly, as they were, without the red tint of my eyescreen to dampen their beauty. This time, I saw them not as a slave to my work, but as a frre man. No more forced orders, no more secret directives that conflicted with my emotions and drove me to the edge of madness and dangled me over. No more pampered, obese blobs of humans looking at me as an inferior meant only to serve them hand and foot, worthy only to be spit on when they were displeased, or blamed when something went wrong. I leaned back in my seat as I felt these burdens at last lifted from my shoulders forever.

I was still asleep when the _Opportunity _left hyperspace. Stars became pinprics of light again, galaxies blurry points in the blackness of space. I traveled for two or three more days before I got my first look at Ea.

It looked like I had returned to Earth, except that this planet was much cleaner. I could see that the oceans were still a clean, deep blue. The land, which I now noticed was not shaped at all like Earth's continents, still looked green and grey and brown, instead of the sickly yellows and oranges of Earth. Two polar ice caps were visible, a dead giveaway that this couldn't possibly be Earth. But the biggest, most noticeable difference was the absence of satellites and other space debris orbiting the planet. I could actually see the clouds and the surface of the planet. I hoped, if the humans decided to move here, that they wouldn't destroy this place, like I had seen them do to Earth.

As I got closer, I saw that, like Earth, Ea had a single moon orbiting it. This moon was larger than Earth's and lighter in color. I could see some places where there was ice on the moon. It was far more mountainous than Earth's moon, and had more valleys and deep chasms and craters that Earth's moon could almost fit in.

I looked back to Ea and gasped. The planet itself was huge! Much larger than our Earth, with much larger oceans. The continents were also larger. From my position, I could see two of them, a large one in the east and a smaller one to the west. The smaller one seemed tiny, but it was probably about the size of Antarctica, if not larger. My ship was angled toward the enormous eastern landmass. Its southern part was largely covered by what was probably a desert or plain. Just north of that, thick black clouds hovered in place over land that, when the wind blew a fleeting hole in the clouds, was pitch black, except for glowing red lines that were probably lava flowing from a volcano. Except for these two areas, the rest of the continent appeared to be teeming with life of some sort. And it was my job to find out what sort it was. Now all I had to do was land.

**For those who are wondering, yes that was Mordor that he was seeing throug its clouds of shadow. And yes, the smaller continent is Valinor. What do you guys think now? It's getting more interesting, isn't it.**

**Strange what music can do to your writing. When I wrote Auto/Meldir and Eve'sconversation about autopilots, I was listening to "The Lady of Shalott" by Loreena McKennitt (love her, she is AMAZING!)**


	5. Arrival on Ea

**And now, for the moment we have all been waiting for. Auto's arrival on Ea. This is where you satrt to see a lot of LOTR crossover.**

**I do not, and probably never will, own Wall-E or Lord of the Rings.**

**5. Arrival on Ea  
**

I touched down in a small clearing in a forest. It was a little ways up a hillside, at the very feet of a range of towering black mountains. During my descent, I had seen that these formed the western border of the black land with the volcano. I thought it strange that even the mountains were black, and that they were so huge. But then, most of Earth's mountains had been blasted away to make room for more of BnL's corporate expansion. Perhaps it was just the everpresent cloud of ash from the volcano. That would certainly explain the scrubby condition of the forest where I was and further up the slope. The things that really grew here were low growing plants that could survive wth little sunlight and water. There were tall trees, but most of their leaves were missing. I guessed they had been dense and green before the volcano became active. Now they had a thinner layer of leaves and most of the leaves were on the western side of the tree. In that direction, I could see what I thought was a river glittering in sunlight. I decided that would be where I went. Where there was water, there would be people and animals who needed it. And there would be plenty of food to be found there. Not that I considered myself a great hunter. Far from it. I was resourceful enough to find some form of food, even if it meant taste-testing strange plants.

I checked the ship's computer, which informed me that the air outside was just like that of Earth, sans pollution and smog. I stood at the airlock door, my hand on the lever that would open it. Here I was, about to take the first step of a truly new beginning. Once I pulled that lever, there was no returning to my old life. One step out onto Ea, and my past would truly be behind me. Forever. I took a deep breath and pulled.

The door slid open and let in the warm breeze that caressed my face, as thought it were someone delighted to greet me and welcome me to its world. I took one step down the ladder that would let me down from the ship to the ground. The rungs were cold under my bare feet (I hadn't thought of ever wearing shoes when I was on Earth, so I hadn't asked for them before I left) My feet touched down on soft, warm soil. I stood there for a moment just breathing the fresh air and letting the breze rustle my hair. The sun shone its pleasing warmth on my skin, which I only just realized was extremely pale for a human. But then, I hadn't been out in the sun much on Earth. My ears picked up the sound of birds singing in the trees. Birds! There was nothing this on Earth anymore. I also heard squirrels chattering and other animals, probably rabbits, rustling in the undergrowth.

I took out my holopad from its case, which hung from a strap over my shoulder, and turned back to face my ship. I quickly found the connection to the ship's computer and switched on the cloaking device. No sense leaving it out in the open where anyone on this planet who may or may not know how to use it could find it. Putting my holopad back in its case, I started walking down toward the river, taking in everything around me that I had thought I would never see anywhere.

So entranced was I by the natural beauty all around me that I failed to see the danger. A large tree root with some vine-like plants growing around it stuck up out of the ground and caught my left foot, the vines wrapping around my ankle like a snare catching a fox.I fell forward, seeing too late that there was a fairly large dropoff behind the root. My foot stayed stuck in the root and vines as I fell screaming over the edge. I felt my ankle slam into the root, and felt the bones break in two, tearing at my skin as my leg bent unnaturally. I felt the other bones in my foot follow suit, snapping and cracking like twigs. I cried out in pain as I hung there for a few seconds. This was something I had forgotten about. If I could feel warmth and comfort like humans could, then I could also feel pain like they could. I had never imagined such a thing as this before. The pain blazed through my whole body, my leg and foot felt like they were on fire. I could feel my own blood running down my leg. Tears flowed freely from my eyes, the vines and root digging into my injured leg. Then the vines broke and my leg scraped over the root, which drew more blood. I fell headfirst down the drop, my arms stretched out below me My hands slammed into the ground and my body fell over down the hill. My left hand flew out from under me, while my right arm took on my full weight. It wasn't for long, but it was enough. I heard and felt my wrist break. I screamed again as I continued falling down the hill. I believe I may have hit my head at least once on a root or a small rock by the time I came to a stop. A bush in the path of my fall had ensnared me in its prickly branches. I winced in pain whenever I moved, though I tried not to do this. I wondered what would happen when ground control didn't start receiving reports from me soon. But there was nothing for it. I couldn't get to the river and I couldn't get back to my ship. I couldn't even move unless I wanted my body to erupt in burning pain all over again.

I don't know how long I lay there before I heard approaching footsteps. I didn't know who or what it was, I had to get out of here. My leg and wrist throbbed, and I could feel infection setting in on my leg and foot injuries. Ignoring my body's painful protests, I thrashed around in the bush as much as I could, being as loud as possible, and screaming for help the whole time. I saw several shapes coming toward me. They were large, about six to seven feet tall, and humanoid in shape, except for the long tails with tufts of hair on the end and the pointed ears. Their skin was dark and they wore tunics of leather and animal hides. They gathered around me with bewildered expressions. A particularly large one knelt down beside me.

"Shh, shh, you're all right. We won't hurt you. Shhhh" he soothed, gently taking hold of my hands in his large, strong ones. I let out a gasp and winced as he touched my broken wrist. He noticed and looked at my arm. He saw where blood from my leg had dropped onto my arm, and looked down at my leg. I followed his gaze and wished I hadn't. My ankle and foot were twisted and bent in unnatural ways, and were covered in blood. I could see a jagged piece of something white sticking out of my leg. I knew it must have been my bones.

"He is hurt!" the one holding me said. Another answered him in what I guessed was their language. They had a brief exchange of words, then the one with me gently lifted me out of the bush and into his arms. Another stepped forward and used a knife to cut the last pieces of vines and bush that were still wrapped around me. Then he stood and called to the others. Mine rose, cradling me in his arms like he would a small child. He turned and ran after the others, who had already started off.

We arrived in their home with people turning to stare at the large person, and the alien thing he carried in his arms.

"Where is Tinana?" he yelled. Someone gave him directions and he raced to follow them. He arrived at a large wooden hut and rapped on the door.

"Tinana!" he called, "Tinana, help!" There were sounds from inside, then the door opened and an old woman appeared. Her grayish-white hair was spread out over the collection of shawls and scarves around her shoulders, over top of her animal hide dress. She gasped when she saw me.

"What is this!" she cried.

"We found him while we were on our way back from the hunt. Please, I can tell you later. He has already lost a great deal of blood, and I believe his wound is infected. He needs help now."

"Right, right, forgive me. My curiosity gets the better of me. Bring him in." She led us toward the back of her hut, where I could see a pallet of woven grass laid on the floor. Tinana spread a blanket over this and I was lowered slowly onto it. Another, rolled up blanket was tucked under my head to serve as a headrest. Tinana washed out the wound on my leg, trying to be as gentle as she could, but whatever she washed it with stung almost as bad as the leg hurt.

" I'm sorry, but it's got to be done," she said softly, "Your wound is badly infected. I had to wash it out to kill the infection and prevent it from progressing. And resetting your breaks will probably hurt worse." She gently stuck a rolled up piece of cloth in my mouth.

"Isthey, I may need you to hold him for me." I felt the strong hands on my shoulders pressing down gently to keep me from jumping up.

"Telleo, fetch me some fresh bandages and materials for a leg and wrist splint." Someone answered her and ran to get what she needed. She then got to work setting my broken leg and foot. I bit down hard on the cloth in my mouth and screamed through it. The man, who I guessed was Isthey, pressed down a bit harder on my shoulders, holding me down. It seemed to take forever, but she finally rubbed some thick liquid over the wound and wrapped a bandage tight around it. Then she used a pair of thick tree limbs to splint my leg and foot. Then she set and splinted my wrist. Then Tinana and Isthey carefully moved me to a different pallet and laid me on a soft blanket, rolled up cloth under my head. Tinana spread another blanket over me. Then the two of them just sat there and looked at me.

"You poor thing. How in the name of the Valar did you get like this?" Tinana asked.

"I...I...fell." I said weakly, "My foot got caught in some roots and I fell down the hill." She nodded and laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Well you'll be all right now, um..." I debated what to tellher Should I say I was Meldir Saeran or should I just give her my real name. Well, it wasn't like Eve was going to talk to her.

"Autopilot." I said, and her eyes shot up, wide with surprise, "But you may call me Auto."

"Auto." she repeated to herself. "It suits you. Come, Isthey. We should let Auto rest a bit."

"Thank you." I said suddenly, "Both of you. Isthey for finding me, and Tinana for helping me." They both nodded in acknowledgement, and Tinana gave me a small smile and a light pat on the arm.

"By the way," I said, "what are you?"

Tinana answered, "We are called orcs, starchild. We are the Uruk-hai clan." I wanted to ask more, but my eyelids were already drooping.

When I awoke, the sky was dark. Alien stars glittered above my head. The moon hung full and bright in the sky, larger than a harvest moon on Earth.

"Hello, Auto." I recognized Isthey's voice. "Tinana says you can come and stay with us now you've rested some." Gently, he picked me up again and carried me out of the hut. He took me to another one that was a bit smaller than Tinana's. Instead of going inside, we went around the back of the hut, where I could see a cookfire burning and two more orcs, one male and one female, sitting on the ground leaning back against logs that were probably meant to be benches to sit on.

"Shagrat. Nia." Isthey greeted them.

"Isthey. Did you bring him?" Shagrat asked eagerly. In answer, Isthey carefully set me down beside him with my back against the log.

"Auto, this is Shagrat, my younger brother. And this is his wife, Nia. Shagrat, Nia, this is Auto." We exchanged handshakes and greetings while Isthey got up to go and get some food to cook. I studied the two new orcs beside me

Shagrat looked a lot like a smaller, leaner version of his brother. He had a smaller form and lacked Isthey's hulking muscles, but he had the same kind face that Isthey had when he found me. What Isthey didn't have, though, were Shagrat's big, watery blue eyes. They reminded me a little of Eve's, except I could see different emotions in them. I saw life and laughter and his curiosity and eagerness to learn. He was an adult, but he still had the innocence of a child in his eyes.

Nia bore no resemblance to either of them, except for the kindness in her face. She was lean and muscular, definitely a warrior by the looks of her. Despite her dangerous looks, she was still beautiful. She was perfectly sized in every way, her skin smooth and dark, her black hair falling down her back in a smooth satiny curtain. Like Shagrat's, her eyes were full of life and laughter and...something else. It was the way they looked at each other, it reminded me of Wall-E and Eve looking at each other. I knew what this emotion consisted of, but I had no word for it. It reminded me of Wall-E's song saying "_it only took a moment to be loved..._" Wait. _that _was it! Love! That was what I was seeing in Shagrat and Nia. I saw it in Isthey, too, when he looked at Shagrat. And suddenly, I thought _I want that, too._ I wanted to be loved by someone. From what I'd seen, it was wonderful, having someone who would care about you no matter what and who you could rely on when you needed them.

We ate some meat that Isthey cooked over the fire, which was very tasty, and the orcs talked some more while I listened. Then everyone turned over to fall asleep. Shagrat spread his blanket out so it cover him and me. I thanked him, but he was already fast asleep.

**Oh, no. Auto's hurt. What will happen to him now? Wait for chapter six to find out. Until then, please R&r! Thanks!**

**Note: This story does not tie in with "Eternal Bond" Yes, these are some of the same characters, but I'm using a different version of them for this story.**


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